Kiryoku Inner Strength
by Foxbear
Summary: A plan gone awry leaves Miko in the clutches of Airachnid. Which is worse, when the sadist who captures you is disgusted, or intrigued? Commission for gamedan on DA.
1. Bikini

**Kiryoku**

**Inner Strength**

**(Japanese)**

"So my scrappy little cyber-cat," a silky smooth voice purred in the darkness, "Are you ready for another day of training?"

Perhaps for the first time in her short life Miko Nakadi was experiencing personal mortal terror. The slim Asian girl trembled with rage because that was all the movement she could manage. She might have screamed, except she was at the limit of human endurance and a wire-thin network of metal sealed her mouth shut. Slowly, one at a time the wires recoiled, leaving a crisscrossed pattern of fine red lines etched into her skin and a maddening burning pain. The girl gasped, choked, and swallowed.

"Come on my pretty pet," the voice crooned sweetly; honey and arsenic, "tell me how much you hate me."

"Kimoi ijiwaru busu," Miko snarled; trying to glare up at the leering black and gold face hovering over her. The girl couldn't remember when she had begun reverting to her native tongue. A searing pain ripped through her back and the human's body strained against the living metal that held her.

"No no my pet," the voice crooned again, this time with a touch of annoyance, "in English."

**Chapter 1**

**Autobot Base Omega, Yesterday**

"In English please geek boy?" Miko demanded loudly, her pink fringed odango bobbing aggressively as she glared at the brown eyed boy in front of her.

Rafael Esquivel gave a small sigh and adjusted his rectangular glasses with one finger.

"Ratchet thinks the Cons are trying grow energon in the Bikini Islands," the twelve year old simplified the half hour lecture he'd been giving her on energon fixating coral and the ambient radiation levels in the Pacific Island chain. The girls brown eyes lit up with sudden delight.

"See? That wasn't so hard. Now, I need to go home to do some stuff. Later."

The smaller boy sighed again as the slim Asian sprinted across the base in search of Bulkhead. Girls were all a mystery to him, but Miko simply defied reason. She'd been moping about all morning because it was raining outside, now the bots were headed off for a search that might take Bulkhead away from her for days, and she was suddenly cheerful. There was no way they were letting her go on such a dangerous mission. Ratchet always watched their backs for the girl now. He shrugged it off and returned to helping Ratchet calibrate the radiation sensors.

At home in her bedroom Miko hummed happily to herself as she finished tying the last strap on her black and indigo bikini. She eyed her trim body in the bedroom mirror and nodded in satisfaction. If only she was just a little rounder up top the girl thought wistfully. She shot a smug look up at the cloudy grey sky. Quickly she pulled her usual ensemble of a blue tank top and jean shorts on over the swimsuit. Then her favorite striped stockings and black knee-high lace up boots followed. The girl pulled her pink dyed black hair back into a ponytail, grabbed a canvas bag, and tore out of the house.

"All right let's go!" she had called out to the green SUV that waited on the curb.

"Are you sure you want to hang around the base?" Bulkhead asked. "It's gonna be pretty boring with just Ratchet."

"Oh, I'll find something to do," the girl said mysteriously.

"You won't get in trouble will you?" the Cybertronian asked nervously.

"Who me?" Miko demanded, pasting her best innocent look across her face. "I'll just be working on a surprise art project in back of the base," she elaborated, shoving her hand behind her back and crossing her fingers.

"Oh, what is it?"

"Duh! If I told you it wouldn't be a _surprise_."

"Fair enough," the mech conceded as they pulled into the silo and he transformed with a whirring of gears and hissing of hydraulics. "Well I gotta go. Have fun with your art project," he called as the girl disappeared into the hallways of the old missile base. With a final grin in the direction of his charge Bulkhead strolled over to where the Optimus Prime stood by the main controls with Ratchet. The two mechs were quietly discussing the mission and wrapped up their conversation quickly.

*Are we ready to leave Optimus?* a whistling voice enquired as a young yellow mech walked up with a sleek blue femme.

"Indeed," the primary red and cobalt blue Autobot leader responded. He nodded to the amber and white medic at his side and Ratchet triggered the groundbridge controls. With a powerful buzz of energy a swirling portal of green and pink opened "Autobot's prepare to roll…"

The Prime was suddenly interrupted by the blaring of an alarm on the main consol.

"What could Fowler want now?" Ratchet demanded in exasperation, "more inane restrictions for this mission?"

The attention of the Autobots successfully diverted from the open groundbridge, a small form darted out from behind a crate that was sitting near the portal. Miko slid unnoticed across the event horizon and let out a squeal of joy as her boots landed in soft sand of a pristine beach. Collecting her wits the girl quickly sprinted into the forest of waving palm trees. The bots would not be distracted by the fake communications signal for long. With any luck the doc-bot would brush it off as some after effects of the scraplet infestation. Anybot who went back to check on her 'secret' art project would find a pile of art supplies with a vague note saying she'd gone home to get more.

When she was safely in the depths of the neat rows of palm trees the girl collapsed panting and giggling in the soft sandy soil. Except for the crashing waves and the calling of seabirds there was nothing to be heard. Miko dug her fingers into the warm earth and let out a contented sigh as the heat of the sun baked into her skin.

"Now why would such a gorgeous island be uninhabited?" she asked a curious lizard that blinked at her from a nearby rock. "I would totally live here. Okay, the bots said they would be on the west side of the island so that means I need to go…. that-a-way."

Getting up she quickly removed everything but her bikini, shoved the clothes into her bag, and strolled out to the water on the east side of the Atoll. After a few blissful minutes of frolicking, the silence began to nag at the gregarious child. Wandering back to where she'd left her bag Miko plopped down in a cluster of drift wood logs and began to chew on a granola bar. The sun and fresh air soon blended with the sound of the surf to lull the child to sleep. The snack bar slipped unnoticed from her fingers as she curled into the soft sand.


	2. Spider

**Chapter 2**

"Well, well, and what do we have here?"

Miko blinked groggily as the unfamiliar voice woke her from a very pleasant dream. She briefly clung to an image of Jack smiling at her appreciatively before it slipped away into the fog of sleep as her mind tried to rise towards wakefulness. With an angry grunt the girl rolled back over and buried her face in her bag, trying to recapture the dream.

"Go way, sleeping!" she growled up at the still unseen voice.

"Oh my, you are a spunky one aren't you? Such pretty coloring too, unlike the usual run of humans," the smooth voice went on. There was something about the timber of it that triggered a warning bell in Miko's sleep fogged mind.

With a snarl the girl whipped around to snap at whoever was disturbing her bliss. Pure unmitigated terror froze her solid. Above her loomed a monstrous spider with obsidian black skin, gold markings, and the face of a beautiful woman. Her brain nearly shut down trying to bring what she was now seeing in focus with reality. Spiders didn't get that big. It was impossible. This had to be some sort of trick.

"What's the matter human? Can't think of anything flattering enough to say?"

"A Decepticon!" Miko finally managed to gasp out. For a brief moment her heart was flooded with relief as she realized that the leggy apparition was not in fact a poisonous spider.

A slim brow ridge rose at the grin that briefly spread across the human's face. However this odd reaction was quickly replaced by a blank look. The femme could have sworn she heard the gears humming in the organic's processor as reality sunk in.

"Oh scrap, a Decepticon," Miko muttered eyes wide.

"Since you know what I am," the spider-bot murmured, leaning closer and putting her hands down on either side of the stunned girl, "or rather what I was, then I can assume you are with those pesky Autobots?" The femme's voice grew hard and dangerous at the end of the question.

Without thinking Miko threw her canvas beach bag straight at the Ex-Decepticon's smirking face plates. The femme blinked in surprise and amusement. This one was spunky indeed. She let the little one run for a few yards before crouching down and springing on the fleeing figure, capturing the girl in a cage made of the spider-bot's long limbs.

"Let me go you sneaky freak!" Miko shouted in fury, kicking at the black bars of her cage.

"Oh, I don't think so," purred the silky voice. "You have just been promoted from useless organic to bait." The femme reached through her encircling legs and gently caressed the smooth cheek of the young human. Miko shivered and pressed back against the far side of the cage, only to be met by another probing servo. "Although I might have a little fun with you before I exchange you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why you dear child, didn't my Jack tell you all about the fun we had in the forests up north?"

"What? He is so not _your_ Jack!" the girl snarled.

A surprised and pleased smile flitted across the femme's faceplates. She hadn't even been trying but that little jab had struck true, revealing a possible chink in the human's mental armor. The Ex-Decepticon filed it away for later use.

"Hey, you must be that freaky Con that chased him and Arcee; Airachnid!"

"So I see you do have a processor child; maybe not one as good as my Jack but it does work."

"He is not, oof!" Miko's defiant cry was suddenly cut off as two small limbs unfolded from the Ex-Decepticon and wrapped around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her up as the femme stood.

Faster than the child could follow; wires, plates, and cables rearranged themselves until she found herself staring up at the clear blue sky. All she could see of the spider-bot were the highest joints in her segmented legs. Powerful bands held the girl immobile with her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms clamped at her sides. As she watched horrified, the two smaller limbs began swiftly weaving fine white threads around her body. Like a spider securing a fly.

"There you go, all nice and cozy," Airachnid called cheerfully. Her black and gold head suddenly loomed over Miko's face. "Do try not to struggle, it only drags this out." The fibers were already halfway up the girl's legs.

"Guck."

"What was that now?" the femme looked down in curiosity at the contorted expression on the human's face.

"Snork," with an explosive blast of air Miko hurled a rather spectacular loogie up at the astonished purple optics.

"Ha! Take that freak!"

Airachnid's face-plates went rigid. Ever so slowly one servo came up and wiped the disgusting organic glob off her mesh. It the sudden silence the girl began to wonder it that had really been such a good idea. But suddenly a low, sultry chuckle emanated from the upturned corners of the spider-bot's lips.

"So my dear," the femme purred. "So you want to play it that way. Very well, I'm always game. You struggle as much as you want, but do remember The Autobots will do anything in the world to get you back _alive_. They will work just as hard, for let's just speculate here, a one armed human as they would for a two armed one."

The femme smiled in pleasure as she felt a shiver run up the child's spine. This was going to be fun she mused. The loud female might not be as bright as Jack, but she seemed to have a feistier spark.

"Bulkhead will come rescue me," Miko snapped, "and when he does you will wish you were never born!"

"Well, actually I wasn't."

"What?"

"Cybertronians aren't 'born' dearest."

"Who cares? The point is he's gonna knock you from here to Cybertron and back."

"It is truly touching the faith you have in them child. Now if you can just tell me why it looks like your Autobot friends have abandoned you," the Ex-Decepticon said, "Because they bridged out of this place hours ago."


	3. Cocoon

**Chapter 3**

"You're lying," Miko spat out.

"Surprisingly enough I'm not," the black and gold femme replied thoughtfully. "Now why would those soft sparked idiots go off and leave you to my tender mercies. Ah, wait. I know they know I'm on the island." The dark face returned to Miko's line of sight and leered down at her. "But did they know you were?"

There was no mistaking the look of fear and dawning comprehension that crossed the child's face.

"You snuck along didn't you? So here you are with me, and none of your friends even know it. Isn't that nice? Nice for me." A sickening smirk bloomed on the metal face.

Miko felt fear lock up her throat. She had to react. A small voice in the back of her mind called out for her to show no fear. The wild energy inside of her rose up and exploded outward.

"Kutabare!"

"You know dearest. I'd really prefer it if you spoke a language I know."

"Baka busu!"

Airachnid smiled cruelly and reached forward with one razor sharp talon. Miko cried out in pain as the blade sliced across her cheek.

"Now, in English if you please."

"Drop dead!" Miko hissed out as a thin trickle of blood ran down her face.

"There, wasn't that easy?"

"Oh you want me to speak in English huh? Well listen to this you…"

And listen Airachnid did as she finished securing her vocal little hostage. At first she was faintly amused, then she outright laughed, finally she simply shook her helm in silent amazement. How could such a young being have amassed such a store of cunning, vicious, and malicious language? What the spider-bot found especially impressive was the class of the tirade. Not once did the child demean herself with common vulgarities. Even as the femme's spinnerets laced the final strands around Miko's head the stream of sharp adjectives kept up, never repeating.

The Ex-Decepticon leaned her helm over the little female and gave an unpleasant grin. All that was visible of the girl was her furious face. Suddenly the sound of transformation surrounded the girl. Even through the webbing it felt as if a thousand spiders were crawling across her back and up her sides. She refused to scream in front of that monster, she refused to scream… Then she was encased in blackness; warm comforting blackness.

Airachnid watched the terror and determination battle across the human's face with mixed parts sadistic glee and real admiration. The fragile little female was stronger than the Cybertronian had given her credit for. Maybe Jack's resilience wasn't as unusual a species feature as she'd thought. She carefully adjusted the carrying hold in her thorax. It would not do to have her hostage dying of compression fractures if it came to combat.

"So, comfortable?"

Miko twitched at the voice that seemed to vibrate all around her. Oddly enough it was rather comfortable, she admitted grudgingly to herself. Still…

"You are so scraped when Bulk gets here," the girl snarled.

"You keep saying that, but where is your erstwhile protector? Hmmm," the spider-bot crooned. "I mean we've waited nearly two hours now. They do know where to look for you don't they? I don't want to be carrying around a nasty little organic in my chamber for no reason you know. If I can't get something out of this situation I might as well just…"

Terror shot through Miko as the chamber suddenly tightened around her. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. The girl fought down the panic and refocused the energy at the spider-bot, using the fear to fuel her growing anger. When Airachnid finally let off the pressure with a dark chuckle Miko took a deep breath and launched into a new tirade against her. Airachnid half listened as she began to move about the island. This string of insults was cut short as the girl was seized with a coughing fit.

"Are you sure you're okay back there?" the femme asked idly as she carefully planned the rout of booby traps she was laying for a certain Autobot.

"Fine!" gasped the girl.

"Oh, you don't lie very well do you? Poor thing. I guess no one ever took the time to teach you," Airachnid sighed in mock sympathy. "Fortunately for you I have plenty of experience at keeping organics alive and healthy. Now let's see, yes, I think these pods will do nicely."

"You?" Miko demanded as soon as she could speak again. "What would you know about keeping us alive? Didn't you like, kill organics for fun."

"No dear, I was a trophy hunter. There is a difference. Have you ever heard of the three-winged swallow tigers of Antares Tertiary? No? Well I'm not surprised they are very rare and very beautiful."

Miko could feel herself rocking back and forth as the femme moved around the island. The human wondered in irritation what she could be doing out there. With a twitch her nose began to itch. The girl's smooth face gave a spasm of irritation.

"Anyway, they are the most coveted of all class five prey in that sector, nearly extinct you know. Oh, don't look that way," Airachnid scolded. "They were that way long before I got to the planet. But the tricky thing about taking them as prey is that those beautiful wings deteriorate so quickly after they are dead. You can't let them offline until you actually have them in the dissecting lab, and then you take them apart alive."

The ex-Decepticon smirked as she felt her hostage's trembling increase. It was nice to have an appreciative audience for once she mused; especially one who didn't scream or lock up in stasis at the slightest hint of gore. Maybe she would keep the spunky little organic around after she had used her to lure in her real prey.

"So there I was. I had landed my ship too far from the mountain where the individual I was hunting was and I had to devise a way to get the specimen back. So I modified my sparkling chamber a bit and boom, instant organic transporter. Let's see now…"

Miko let out a cry of pain as a slender needle penetrated the webbing over her arm and pierced into her flesh. The girl whimpered and gritted her teeth as she felt it probing around.

"Saline water base, complex carbohydrates, proteins, gottcha," the femme muttered analyzing the inner fluids of her prisoner.

The needle stopped moving and Miko took a deep breath. Something Airachnid had said had triggered her curiosity.

"Hey, freak."

"Yes, human?"

"Number one; my name is Miko. Number two; you called this thing your sparkling chamber?"

"Oh yes, back in the day on Cybertron I would have used this to hold my sparkling. My caste was constantly on the move so we had to carry them with us at all times."

"Wait. _YOU_ actually imprinted a sparkling? Aggghh!"

"I don't like the way you said that," there was a cold edge to the spider-bot's voice. "It was hurtful; very hurtful. Besides what does an organic like you know about sparklings and imprinting?"

Miko gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. The sadistic ex-Con was running electricity through the needle. The girl didn't know what was worse; the actual pain or the twitching that ran up and down the muscles in her arm.

"Ratchet," she finally hissed out, "the doc-bot told me."

"I see."

The pain stopped and Miko let out a gasp of relief.

"Well this is going to be more work than I thought," Airachnid mused out loud.

"What is?"

"Well you see child, originally I was only planning on trading you for Arcee. You may not be her human but there is no way in the pit she'd let anything happen to his mate."

"What! I am not Jack's, ouch!"

"Don't interrupt girl. It is simply dreadfully impolite. As I was saying, that was the plan."

"But now?" Miko asked in trepidation.

"You are simply too much fun child," the femme purred happily. "My life is a lonely one; drifting from star to star. I have decided to grant you the enormous honor of becoming my pet."


	4. Contact

**Chapter 4**

"No!" Miko cried out as she tried once again to struggle against the webbing.

Airachnid noted with pleasure that there was still more outrage than panic in the girl's voice. She was a feisty one. It would be difficult to break her; difficult and immensely satisfying. The spider-bot walked out into the crystal clear lagoon and drew some of the water into her vents. The liquid was shunted to a special compartment where a swarm of specialized nanobots began mixing, purifying, and processing it with the protein rich liquid she had harvested from the fibrous brown pods she'd collected from the trees. Once the mixture was optimized she began a steady drip into the child's system through the needle imbedded in her arm. After only a few moments the femme noted the improvement in the human's vitals and nodded in satisfaction.

"So what is with you anyway?" Miko demanded, trying to get her mind off the thought of what the femme had planned for her. "How'd you get to be such a freak?"

"Oh it's a long story my dear," Airachnid said with a dramatic sigh. "It started many megacycles ago on Cybertron. I was a young femme of the artisan class, a sky-dancer in Praxis." It would be interesting she mused, to see how far she cold twist this young, pliable mind. "I had only just imprinted on my first sparkling," Arachnid felt a surge of satisfaction as Miko's heart rate increased and her body tensed, indicating the human was paying close attention now. As she had suspected anything having to do with young was a weak point for this species.

"You really did have a sparkling?" there was still disbelief in the girl's tone, but also hesitation, weakness and the predator seized it.

"Swiftwing imprinted on me on the edge if the rust desert," Airachnid replied mournfully. "We had three wonderful cycles together," the femme paused and waited until the tension in her audience of one reached its peak, "before the Autobots enforcers took him from me."

"What, never! They wouldn't have," Miko gasped out in shock and automatic denial, but there was just a bit too much venom in her voice.

Airachnid checked the nutrient flow and tweaked the level of alcohols in it upward a bit. A little chemical judgment clouding might help things along.

"Oh you innocent child," the femme sighed. "Not all Autobots were as sweet as your dear, thick Bulkhead."

Suddenly she felt a ping on her CPU. A cruel smile twitched at the corners of her faceplates as she left off the story and activated the uplink she had established over the primitive human satellite network. The human protested at the sudden silence but a quick squeeze silenced the child. Airachnid spent a few klicks making sure the line was secure and then triggered the device at the other end.

"… would send you a, 'furby', was it?" Arcee's curious voice crackled through the static.

"I have no idea," Jack's soft timber replied. "It might have been from my Great Aunt. Sometimes I think she still sees me as four."

The spider-bot waited until June Darby called her son if for dinner. As she had planned, the human male left the supposed furby in the garage next to Arcee. With a signal from the spider-bot, a near invisible cloud of nanobots exploded off the innocent looking thing and adhered to the cycle-bot. Now was not the time. Any predator must be patient, and Airachnid was a truly great predator. This plot was something she'd had in the works for quite some time, just waiting for the proper situation to spring it. While she waited for the human occupants of the house to fall asleep the femme turned her attention to the sulking Miko.

"Now where were we?"

"You were telling me about how the enforcers took your sparkling from you," the girl said trying not to sound interested.

Airachnid let sadness and regret creep into her voice.

"Yes," she said bitterly. "Those scraping fools on the council, in their infinite wisdom, had declared that we sky-dancers of the artisan class were unfit to raise the young who had imprinted on us. I lost little Cloudjump just before I joined the Decepticons." Airachnid let out a regretful sigh.

"Wait! That wasn't his name," Miko snapped out, jumping on the inconsistency. "You're lying to me!"

"Really?" Airachnid asked absently, she hadn't really been putting that much effort into the story, not thinking the emotional girl too bright, oh well. There were other ways to toy with her new pet. The noise level in the Darby house had dropped to the point that indicated the humans were asleep. "What did I say her name was?"

"You said 'he' and it was Swat… Sweetflag…Flip… Well it wasn't that. Do you think I'm something or stupid?"

The Cybertronian let out a small huff of amusement as the alcohol began to take effect.

"Darling I have the greatest respect for your," Airachnid couldn't quite keep her lips from twitching up in a smirk, "mental capacity."

"Be quiet now," she said giving the girl a squeeze. A yelp of pain came from the chamber. In annoyance Airachnid directed a web of fine wires to seal the child's mouth shut. The spider-bot finished the trap she was working on and triggered the comm. unit.

"Hello Arcee." The femme listened in satisfaction to the startled cry on the other end.

"Airachnid!" the Autobot hissed. "Where are you? How did you get this frequency?"

"Ah, ah, Autobot. Do remember to be quiet. Don't want to wake your human."

"If you so much as lay a servo on Jack or June!"

"Oh Arcee my dear, you misunderstand me. I'm nowhere near your current position, and I have no intention of doing anything to Jack, today. In fact I still don't even know where you are. In exchange for a little tech MECH agreed to deliver a package for me."

"Scrap! The furby!"

"You always were quick on your peds Arcee. Now just answer me this riddle. If not Jack; then which of your little human friends _is_ in danger?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the signal and then the Autobot hissed.

"Miko! Listen Airachnid, I don't know how you managed to get your servos on her, but as Primus is my witness if you so much as scratch her I'll."

"You'll what Arcee? No really, tell me. I'm in a good mood and might appreciate the humor of it. You see, I've already scratched her, just a touch. I might do a bit more. No doubt by now you've figured out I'm jamming your signal. Try to call for help and I will cut her open and leave her to leak out into the sand."

There was dead silence on the other end as the cycle-bot no doubt mulled over her options.

"What do you want me to do?"


	5. Death

**Chapter 5**

Airachnid stood easily atop one of the few buildings on the island waiting for the Autobot to arrive. The human girl had fallen asleep from exhaustion after complaining for several hours about the need to purge her tanks. She didn't have much physical stamina the femme thought critically, but her spirit appeared unquenchable. It would make it all the more satisfying when she finally broke the child.

The green swirl of a groundbridge portal opened on the beach about half a mile off. Airachnid focused on the sleek blue form that leapt through the event horizon. Almost before she had landed on the sandy soil a wave of earth erupted and threw the Autobot femme onto her back. The spider-bot smirked as Arcee staggered to the side triggering several low level electro-magnetic pulse devices. Airachnid had not been idle in the months she had been trapped on this world. It was amazing the number of powerful weapons that the humans just left lying around, mostly underground, especially on these backwater little islands. She wasn't even sure if she could call most of her acquisitions stolen. It was as if someone had been in the middle of a war and them just walked off and left it.

Her revere was broken by the light of the rising sun striking the roof where she perched. The golden rays would soon strike her obsidian hide and reveal her location to the searching  
>Autobot. Moving stealthily the spider bot slipped down the side of the structure and made for the water. She paused at the edge of the surf to refill the nutrient sac for her pet and then leapt high into the pale morning light. She dove into the waves at an angle. The long spindly, spider legs transformed into a set of blades and began spinning. Within moments she leapt out of the surf on to the smaller island of Enyu.<p>

Arcee would find them. Sooner rather than later no doubt, but she would be weakened from running the gauntlet of traps the ex-Decepticon has set for her. The femme strolled along the water line as she waited.

"Now what to do with the time I have?" Airachnid mused out loud. She turned her attention to the rounded pod of her thorax. "So my scrappy little cyber-cat," she purred, "are you ready for another day of training?"

"First item on the agenda; from this moment forth you will call me Mistress Airachnid and I shall call you Starlight; a fitting name for such a bright pet."

"Oh, like the pit I will!" the human snarled."My name is Miko and I'll call you freak or creeper or whatever I want!"

"Really," Airachnid leaned over her face smirking, "is that your final answer?"

The diminutive human only hissed at her defiantly.

"Last chance Starlight."

"It's Miko you freak. I am not your pet! Aghhh!" The girl's muscles tried to arch as a flow of energon laced over her body but the webbing held her immobile. The forced stillness seemed to make the pain even worse. The child went limp whimpering softly.

"Starlight?"

"Creeper," came the weak but defiant whisper.

A satisfied smile passed over the grey faceplates as the black and gold femme sent another pulse of energon through the girl. This was going to be fun.

"Oh but wait," Airachnid gasped out dramatically, tinting her voice with regret. "How could I be so selfish? I must remember to share this moment."

Through the pain Miko wondered what she was talking about, but another wave of agony stole the thought.

"Airachnid!"

The spider bot twitched at the rage filled voice. She hadn't expected the Autobot to run the gauntlet so fast, but the distraction was not entirely unwelcome. Starlight was proving to be more difficult than she had predicted to break. Hours later and the human had yet to let the word Mistress cross her lips. To complicate matters the child's physical weakness meant half the time had been spent pumping stimulants into her to keep her alert enough to actually feel the pain. So it was with some relish that the spider-bot turned from playing with her new toy to face the approaching Autobot.

"Arcee, you made it. I was thinking you forgot about our little appointment."

"Shut the pit up! Where's Miko?"

"Who?"

"Don't play games! Where is the girl?"

"Oh, the human," Airachnid said with a smirk. "You must mean my pet Starlight. Don't worry. She's safe."

The femme patted her round sparkling chamber and Arcee felt her spark lurch. With Miko within the femme the Autobot warrior would have to hold back, further diminishing her chances against the Ex-Decepticon. Airachnid gave a knowing laugh as she began to circle.

"Now if you want the little organic to live I'd suggest putting these on."

The spider-bot tossed a set of stasis cuffs at the Autobot's peds.

"I'm certain you know what to do with them."

Slowly, furiously, the blue femme bent to pick up the cuffs. She was about to attach them when a weak voice called out.

"It. Is. Miko. You. Freak!"

Arcee glanced up sharply, relief flooding her at this sign that the girl was still alive; alive and fighting.

""Silence Starlight!" Airachnid snapped.

The Autobot watched in horror as the black and gold femme sent a wave of pulsing energon along her thorax. The capability had been designed to provide for the needs of the growing sparkling. To see the demented femme using that near sacred ability as a torture device made the Autobot's energon lines twist. This time there was no scream, just a gasp, then nothing. A funny look crossed Airachnid's faceplates and she glanced at the round chamber in surprise.

"Whoops," she said with a careless shrug of her shoulders, voice tinted with casual disappointment. "I guess that last one was a little too much. Feels like that central pump stopped. " Gears whirring she ejected the cocooned form from her chassis. "Ah well, better luck next time. Good thing I recorded her screams to remember her by."

"No!" Arcee gasped out.

"Oh, don't worry Arcee," the spider-bot smirked at her. "You'll be joining her soon enough."


	6. Heartbeat

**Chapter 6**

Airachnid lunged forward and slashed down at the blue Autobot's helm. Arcee paired the blow and responded with a lightning fast uppercut that connected squarely with the Ex-Decepticon's jaw. The spider-bot hissed and her neck joints convulsed. Knowing what followed Arcee disengaged and somersaulted backwards and away just as a stream of poisonous green liquid shot out of her mouth to burn a hole in the rock behind the bot.

Suddenly a shot of white hot plasma hit the black and gold femme square in the chassis. Not bothering to see where her former opponent landed Arcee darted over to the still form lying on the beach. She tenderly scooped the bundle of white webbing up to her chestplates and turned it so she could see the still, white face exposed.

"Miko," she whispered frantically running a scan.

"Arcee. How is she?" a deep familiar voice asked from behind her.

"Her heart isn't beating Optimus," the warrior responded in agony, not bothering to wonder how the mech had appeared. It was just what the Prime did.

"Ratchet! We require a ground bridge immediately," he ordered over the comm. "Arcee is incoming with Miko and cannot find a heartbeat."

The green portal swirled open and Arcee loped through. Optimus glanced over to the spider-bot. She glared at him in return before leaping into the air and transforming into a helicopter

*A parting gift Prime,* a signal came over the airwaves carrying a data packet as the angular chopper disappeared.

Prime scanned it for viruses before opening it. He stiffened. The packet consisted entirely of audio-files of Miko's cries of pain. Optimus battled back a familiar wave of rage and guilt. It was not the first time he had received such a Decepticon 'gift'. The Autobot leader followed his second in command through the event horizon. Back in the cool confines of the base Ratchet had moved the girl into his lab and was already cutting away at the webbing. The medic ran a series of scan lights over the pale girl lying prone on the hospital bed.

"Her heart is still in fibrillation," he shouted out, relief in his rough voice. "Nurse Darby?" he asked as two cables coiled out from under his forearm plates. The woman who had been calmly taking Miko's vitals reached out and grabbed them. Resting one on top of the girl's chest just above the black and violet bikini and one on her side June nodded at the Autobot medic.

"Now!"

The amber and white Autobot sent a precisely measured electrical current through the cables. The small body on the table jerked. Ratchet ran another scan over her and gave a triumphant shout.

"All the cells in her heart are now working in concert," he declared joyfully, "and the organ is beating steadily."

"She's not out of the woods yet," June warned; her ponytail whipping behind her head as she spun on the two boys hovering worriedly as close as they were allowed. "She's not breathing on her own. Jack, CPR now! Mouth-to-mouth only at this point. Don't start chest compressions unless her heart stops again. Ratchet we need that oxygen over here."

The Autobot medic and the nurse moved off to collect the required equipment as Jack bent his head over the still form on the table. He carefully checked to make sure her air way was unblocked and used two fingers to tilt her chin up. Pinching her nose shut the raven haired teen pressed his lips over her mouth and gave a powerful breath.

Across the lab June was sorting rapidly through a disorderly pile of oxygen masks when Ratchet suddenly glanced up from where he was selecting a green and silver oxygen tank.

"Ah, Nurse Darby," he commented dryly, "refresh my memory please. What part of CPR requires the patient to be vertical?"

"Vertical? What do you…Ah?"

Miko was sitting up in the bed and had both arms tightly wrapped around Jack's head. He had apparently lost his grip on her chin and nose but their lips were still firmly locked together.

"Jackson Darby!" June's voice cut through the base medbay like a gunshot.

Miko reluctantly released the stunned and gasping young man and grinned impishly over at the nurse.

"Just thanking him for the excellent CPR!" she gasped out as she collapsed back onto the bed.

"I think he's been thanked enough," the mother said, but her mouth was twitching in amusement as she approached them. "How do you feel Miko?"

"Everything hurts, I think I wet myself, and I could eat a horse," the slim Asian announced.

"Well that's a pretty good situation, all things considered," said the nurse.

"Miko!" A deep cry of joy echoed throughout the base as Bulkhead came rushing in. "I was so worried! Why'd you go off like that?"

"Well you know," she shrugged her bare shoulders, "the famous Bikini Island. It was just the perfect place to try out my new bikini."

"Miko," Jack asked in exasperation, "do you even know what Bikini Island is famous for?"

"No not really," she said smiling up at him. "Why?"

The lanky teen shook his head in astonishment and turned to go.

"I need to get to school. Try to be alive by the time I get back please."

Bulkhead crouched down by the bed and delicately held out a canvas bag.

"Here, we found this," he offered with a grin. Miko squealed her thanks and the two began to chatter happily.

**Epilogue**

A massive cargo ship cruised across the Pacific Ocean. Clinging to one side, just above the water line, a dark form glared out over the ocean with baleful purple eyes. Her injuries were healing perfectly but for the first time in many stellar cycles her discomfort came from within. The emptiness of her sparkling chamber was suddenly very noticeable. Her processor kept running back to the comforting presence she had held within her for a short time, the defiant attitude, the quick wit, the uncorrupted innocence. A strange longing filled the huntress, and a deep regret for the still form that had fallen to the empty beach.


End file.
